Edgardo Curcio President AIEE

Transcription

1 Edgardo Curcio President AIEE The First National Conference on Liquefied Natural Gas for Transports - Italy and the Mediterranean Sea April 11, 2013

2 What is LNG? The LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) is a fluid in the liquid state, colorless, odorless, composed primarily of methane, contains small amounts of ethane, propane, nitrogen and other components normally present in natural gas. It does not contain carbon dioxide and water. At atmospheric pressure, it becomes liquid at about -160 C LNG takes up about 1/600th the volume of natural gas in the gaseous state 2

3 The LNG represents an alternative way to the transport by pipeline of the natural gas, allowing a direct connection between the regions of production and of consumption where connection by pipeline is not possible. The use of LNG responds to the strategic need to diversify geographically the sources of supply and make the natural gas market truly global and not limited geographically. 3

4 For transport over long distances, the LNG is more profitable than the pipeline transport. 4

5 The history of LNG The LNG industry is a young industry with a background of only 40 years. The first experimental transport was made in the 1959 (Lake Charles/Canvey Island). 5

6 The LNG chain LNG submersible pumps loading natural gas liquefaction LNG field purification treatment heavy hydrocarbons storage tanks jetty transport GASIFICATION PLANT distribution LNG submersible pumps LNG natural gas gasification storage tanks jetty landfill 6

7 International trade flow of natural gas Fonte BP Statistical Review 7

8 LNG movement in Europe 8 8

9 LNG exporter suppliers in 2011 Egypt Other Russian Federation Malaysia 10% 9

10 LNG trade has incresed by 141% in the last decade 10

11 According to the BP data in 2011, about 32% of the natural gas world trade was represented by LNG, equivalent to bcm. According to GIIGNL in 2012 there was a 1.9% decrease of the imported LNG due to the global economic crisis. However, the weight of LNG trade is likely to grow in the coming years thanks to the increased use of natural gas in all end uses due to its higher efficiency and to its lower environmental impact. About 25% of the quantities traded in the LNG market goes to the spot market. 11

12 Spot and short-term LNG trade development since

13 At the end of 2012, 8 Countries out of a total of 18 made up 83% of global LNG exports. In the same period, the LNG supply of the Pacific Basin has declined by 3% and the supply of the Atlantic Basin by 2.2%. Although the production of Nigeria, Norway, Trinidad & Tobago increased its level it could not fill the gap of the lower exports from Algeria, Egypt and Equatorial Guinea. 13

14 In the Middle East, in 2012, production shutdowns in Yemen reduced total exports despite the increased production of Qatar. 63%, of Qatar volumes were exported to Asian countries, with Japan retaining the largest share. For , Qatar doubled its LNG exports to Japan 14

15 On the demand side, 7 importing countries out of a total of 26 (Japan, South Korea, China, India, Taiwan, Spain, UK) attracted 81% of the total LNG volumes. Japan and South Korea s combined share was around 53%. At the end 2012, there are: - 93 regasification terminals in 26 Countries, for a total capacity of 668 million tons/years; - 89 liquefaction plants in 18 Countries, for a total capacity of 282 million tons/years. The total LNG tanker fleet was of 378 vessels. 15

16 Liquefaction and regasification plants 16

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19 Regasification capacity vs LNG imports in

20 The challenge of unconventional gas The gas revolution in the USA, aiming to exploit the large reserves of unconventional gas (bed methane, shale methane, etc.), has changed again the natural gas market. on one hand, the higher volumes of gas produced in the U.S. have lowered the prices of the domestic market, on the other hand the possibility to transport it, thanks to LNG in more profitable markets, have allowed the market to assume a global connotation dropping the geographical logic of the market, existing so far. 20

21 Higher prices of natural gas that provide access to higher costs for the production of coal bed methane, an improvement of related technologies, a new U.S. energy policy, aiming to energy independence and enhancement of national sources, have produced a great boost to the development of unconventional gas, such as coal bed methane (CBM) and shale gas. 21

22 World natural gas stocks 22

23 The exploitation of these two types of unconventional gas, not only led to the cancellation of most of U.S. regasification plant projects, which planned the arrival of LNG from different sources, both from the Middle East and North Africa, but it is changing the U.S. strategy that aims to build new LNG liquefaction plant projects to export in Europe. This policy is based on the higher LNG available volumes in USA and on the spread of 4-5 $/MBtu between the U.S. gas price and the European gas price, which allows transport and sale the U.S. LNG in Europe. 23

24 The first import contract was signed recently by the UK s Centrica with the U.S. Cheniere for the purchase of US LNG for about 2,5 bcm/year by the Sabine Pass plant. The agreement is for the supply of approximately 1.75 tons/year of LNG by 2018, for 20 years extendable to 30 years. The price will be equal to 115% of that on the Henry Hub, plus a fixed fee of 3 $/Mbtu. This agreement will make a valuable contribution to the diversification of suppliers in the UK, when it became the first LNG European importer in period in which UK has seen very slow flows of LNG increasingly attracted by Asian markets. 24

25 In the future, other contracts will come with an increase in US LNG flows in Europe and then in Asia, so as to completely alter the traditional take-or-pay gas market configuration. The ENI s CEO, Paolo Scaroni, sees a lowering of the current prices of gas in Europe in view of the increasingly active role of US LNG. The development of LNG, not only in USA but also in other regions, such as Asia and Australia, will also allow to increase the contribution of gas to the world s energy needs. 25

26 According to the last IEA report, there will be more new LNG plants in the next years expecially in Asia, and the LNG would represent almost 50% of the gas sold in the world in 2020, compared to 30% today. 26

27 IEA estimates that the North American exports of LNG will reach 35 billion cubic metres by 2020 and more than 40 bcm by 2035, two-thirds of which is expected to go to the Asian market. The prospect of LNG exports has set off a debate in the USA about the extent to which they will drive up domestic prices, by taking gas off the local market, and the US Department of Energy is waiting to review the results of a price impact study before dealing with the pending export applications. 27

28 Due to this debate, the esteem is that 93% of the natural gas produced in the USA remains available to meet domestic demand. In addition the WEO projections assume that the gas prices in the U.S. will increase from their current level 2 $/Mbtu in 2012 to 5.5 $/Mbtu in 2020, largely driven by the domestic dynamics of supply and demand. 28

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30 Thanks for your attention